1 in 3 Americans risk heart attack

If you're overweight, smoke, don't exercise, have elevated blood pressure and high cholesterol, you're on track to join the estimated 82 million Americans with heart disease, experts agree -- and you may die up to seven years earlier than you should.

To live longer, the single most important step is comparatively simple: Get active, said Virginia Hospital Center's Cathy Turner at a recent presentation for American Heart Month.

Women face higher opioid toll

The nation's epidemic of narcotics misuse – most recently underscored by a spike in heroin-related deaths – is especially threatening to the health of women and girls, experts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in a recent webcast.

Natural and synthetic opioids are increasingly being used by women. These substances range from illegal drugs like heroin, to legally available pain relievers such as oxycodone and Fentanyl, a powerful analgesic similar to morphine but 50 to 100 times more potent.

The face of the epidemic, warned Dr. Mishka Terplan of Virginia Commonwealth University on Jan. 17, is fast becoming "young, white and female."

HRSA seeks nominations for voting members for the Advisory Committee on Childhood Vaccines

HRSA is requesting nominations for legal representatives (parents or guardians) of children who have suffered a vaccine-related injury or death serve as a member of the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines (ACCV). Because those members must be the legal representatives of children who have suffered a vaccine-related injury or death, to be considered for appointment to the ACCV in that category there must have been a finding (i.e., a decision) by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims or a civil court that a VICP-covered vaccine caused, or was presumed to have caused, the represented child’s injury or death.

The commission advises the HHS Secretary on the implementation of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP).